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Need your help mommies...

Hello mommies,

Very informative and useful forum because of your time and effort. Plz help me with your suggestions.

I m EBF ing my DD2 who is 6 mos old now. I m planning to start my college coming fall. The course is bit sternuous. It needs at least 5 hrs out of the home and 7-8 hrs of my time at home. So we have enrolled my DD in the daycare for 3 days and also my MIL can come if we can ask for help.

We have been tring to bottle feed her with the expressed milk for the last 5-6 weeks. Either she s playing with the bottle or cring... Tried most of the tips that we found online but no luck.

We have only 20 days to start the daycare. She is taking only 3-4 baby spoons of cereal 2 times (didn't want to start the solids now but no other way) and I m nursing her every 2-3 hrs.

I m so worried and feel guilty sometimes. So I really need your valuable suggestions here.

Can I send her to the daycare now with only solid food and nurse her on demand in the evenings and the other 4 days or can I postpone the daycare for another 4-5 months with the help from my MIL?

Will my milk supply affect if I m not getting enough sleep? I nurse her every 3-4 hrs in the night and if it combines with my course work I would barely get 5-6 hrs sleep.

At what age will the babies adapt to the daycare easily? Plz share ur thoughts and experiences.

Re: Need your help mommies...

Greetings Mommy.vg,
A situation like yours came up at La Leche League meeting.
Going back to college is like going back to work, except there is not more money flowing into the household.
But the information and support necessary to keep the breastfeeding relationship strong is the same.
Mothers need to purchase a high quality double pump and all the accouterments needed to store, cool and transport the milk.
Mothers need to schedule to express milk while at work/school.
There is reliable easy to follow information on this website just scroll up to the grey Resource tab and look for the links for Working and Breastfeeding.
Although I did not express and store my milk, because even if I wanted to work my dh figured it would cost our family more money if I was out of the house
my sister worked full time and breastfed/expressed for over a year. And she was happy and satisfied.
She let the DCP figure out how to give her baby the bottle. Although at 6 months I think some moms use sippy cups.

The aspect of your post that spoke to me was the guilt you felt. And the sadness. I have been at LLL meetings where moms come in looking for support and information on working and breastfeeding and end up really looking for moral support to stay home instead.
If you can or if you want to postpone school for another 6 months that is ok too.

Re: Need your help mommies...

At 6 months I would try several different types of sippy cups to see if one works. My son up and refused bottles around 8-9 months and did great with a sippy cup. You can try an open cup too, but that will probably be a lot of work with a 6 month old, so I would try sippy cups first. If you want to stick with bottles, make sure that someone other than you is offering the bottle, and it is best if you are out of he house entirely when the bottle is offered. You may need to try several different types of bottles to find one that your baby will accept.

I would make sure that your daycare does not push solids too hard. Babies really shouldn't be eating much more than a few tastes of food at just 6 months, and it's really best if your baby sets the pace for how quickly she picks up on solid food. I would leave some milk, and have DCP try to give it if your baby is hungry (in case you are interested, here are some links for alternative feeding methods: alternatives to bottles and tools for feeding). However, if you will only be gone 5 hours, then it probably isn't that big a deal if your baby doesn't take milk while you are gone. She will probably want to nurse a lot while you are at home.

I would recommend a sling/wrap/carrier so that you can nurse your baby while getting some school work done. I teach some college classes, and I have done a ton of grading, writing exams/assignments, and working on lectures while nursing my baby in a sling or in our Ergo.

Pumping at school can be tough, but you can probably just pump in the car to and from school if you are only gone a total of 5 hours. You might want an additional manual pump to keep with you in classes so that you can pump quickly on break or between classes in case you get uncomfortable.

Re: Need your help mommies...

Will my milk supply affect if I m not getting enough sleep? I nurse her every 3-4 hrs in the night and if it combines with my course work I would barely get 5-6 hrs sleep.

Your milk supply should not be affected by lack of sleep (if so, I would have run dry long ago). However, stress can make it more difficult to letdown, so do what you need to do to relax while you pump. Also make sure to eat well (not that it affects your milk so much as it affects your overall health) and stay hydrated.

At what age will the babies adapt to the daycare easily?

I think babies will acclimate to daycare at any age. My mom watched my son until 8 months, then he started at a formal daycare. It was really hard to leave him at first, but he loved it. He is such a social bug now too, and I think daycare had a lot to do with that. I'm "off" (still doing some work, but no classes) for the summer, and I was actually a little sad to pull him out because he has so many friends there. It really depends on the baby, but I think starting daycare is pretty easy with an older infant. They are a little more independent than younger babies and often don't have as much separation anxiety as older babies.

I won't lie - it's really hard at first, but once you and your baby settle into your new routines you might find that you both really enjoy some of the changes. I love being home with my son, but I also love spending some time at school, interacting with students and faculty and engaging in academic discussions that you won't find at home. It is hard work, but it is very possible to go to school and raise a happy, healthy baby.

Re: Need your help mommies...

Dear eastervegan,

Thanks for your reply. Already got the pump and I m expressing 4 oz milk daily to try the bottle but it is not working out. Started trying sippy
cup from today...

Somehow you are right I really want to stay at home whenever she refuses the bottle and being fussy. But that's not the solution in my case.
I hope atleast she ll accept the bottle from the DCP. I will let you know the update...

Re: Need your help mommies...

Dear Sophia,

Thanks for the boost. I really needed some...Yes I tried the open cup. She was interested but didn't figure out how to take milk from it.
Now trying sippy cup. She doesn't seem to like it.

The main thing is I m starting my masters after a long break (nearly 10 yrs. break). That s why I m very anxious.
Your experience with the daycare gives me encouragement and again thanks for the detailed info.